Jane Effanga
Design Strategist
URBAN GRIOT PLAYGROUND
Designing a self-guided early literacy kit.
The Urban Griot Playground (UGP) is a design-based research initiative exploring how rhythm and movement enhance early literacy for children ages 3-6. The original workshop format relied heavily on trained facilitators, limiting its reach. As lead design strategist, I guided the transformation of this complex curriculum into a self-guided learning kit—creating an engaging, intuitive, and scalable experience.
CLIENTS & AFFILIATES
Urban Griot Collaborative
Center for Design, Northeastern University
PROJECT TEAM
Jane Effanga
Pierre Valerie Tchetgen, PhD,
Estefania Ciliotta Chehade, MFA
YEAR
FALL 2023
KEY CONTRIBUTIONS
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Introduced the quest-driven adventure framework that became the program's foundation
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Developed a visual language and symbolic notation system to replace facilitator guidance
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Designed the information architecture and card layouts for intuitive self-guided learning
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Facilitated co-design sessions to validate and refine the experience
THE CHALLENGE
Designing for independence without losing instructional integrity.
The UGP curriculum was designed for trained facilitators in controlled workshops. While this model was effective for engagement and data gathering, it was limited in reach. Transitioning to an at-home model created three core challenges:
How could parents and guardians, now acting as facilitators, guide complex, multimodal learning activities without prior training?
How could researchers gather reliable data and ensure implementation consistency without being physically present across varied, uncontrolled home settings?
How could the rich cultural and pedagogical framework of UGP be preserved across varied, uncontrolled settings?
The solution required a complete reimagining of the experience, one that balances intuitive, engaging play for families with the structured consistency needed for research and curriculum fidelity.
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
The first step was to understand the core needs of our users and the specific challenges the design needed to address. I conducted research that included literature reviews on early childhood development, analyzing Institutional Review Board (IRB) feedback, and co-design sessions with stakeholders. This discovery phase yielded several key insights that became the foundation of the design.
Key Insights
Children engage deeply through play, story, and imagination.
Activities that tap into narrative, pretend play, and rhythmic movement create stronger cognitive and emotional connections. The solution needed to be built on a foundation of play.
Implication:
The system needed a narrative framework, not just instructional materials.
Consistent structure supports reliable data collection.
To preserve research integrity, the experience needed standardized implementation across diverse home settings, ensuring comparable data even with different facilitators.
Implication:
The framework needed built-in consistency while remaining flexible.
Effective at-home learning requires a low barrier to entry.
To empower parents to guide learning confidently, the system needed clear instructions, minimal setup, and intuitive design. Any friction would lead to abandonment.
Implication:
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Visual clarity and intuitive structure were non-negotiable.
Information clarity is essential for independent use
Without a facilitator to explain or adapt, all instructions needed to be self-explanatory at a glance. Parents had to instantly understand what to do, how to do it, and what skills were being built.
Implication:
A robust information design system was critical.
SOLUTION
A Quest-based adventure framework.
Based on these insights, I designed the UGP learning kit as a quest-based adventure that created a clear, playful progression through the entire curriculum.
Learning Camps: Core learning domains (e.g., Alphabet, Vocabulary) were framed as thematic camps on the island.
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Stations: Within each camp, three stations (Circle, Construction, Digital) represent UGP's learning modes: embodied, experiential, and digital.
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Quests: Specific learning activities were reframed as "quests" to be completed at each station.
Structure of the UGP Learning Experience
Bringing the concept to life
To make the adventure tangible, I designed a system of interconnected components built on a unified visual language.
Learning Camps & Stations
I designed a visual system that assigned distinct colors and icons to each learning camp, making the materials and activities easy to recognize and navigate. The three stations within each camp ensure a balanced structure that allows children to engage with content in varied and meaningful ways.
Quest Cards
Outline individual learning activities with clear objectives, instructions, and target skills, making it easy for parents to guide children independently.
Quest & Concept Cards
To support clear implementation, I designed two core tools:
Concept Cards
Translate core curriculum concepts (letters, numbers, words) into rhythmic sequences using a simple symbolic notation system, allowing learners to engage with rhythm-based activities.
PROTOTYPING & CO-DESIGN
To validate the framework, I created early prototypes of quest cards, concept cards, and supporting materials. I facilitated co-design sessions with educators, designers, and researchers to test for usability, clarity, and engagement.
These sessions were critical as stakeholders helped identify where instructions were unclear, where visual hierarchy needed adjustment, and where the narrative framework could be strengthened. The iterative process helped refine the design to better serve both families and the research team.
OUTCOME & IMPACT
The UGP Home Adventure Kit remains part of an ongoing research initiative. Since my involvement in the early design phase, the project has continued to evolve through iterative refinement and strategic planning.
The adventure-based structure I created has become central to how the UGP curriculum is being adapted across contexts—including schools and community workshops. My work established the foundation for implementing the curriculum in research settings with clear learning objectives, measurable outcomes, and tools designed for independent use.
The UGP team is now expanding partnerships with daycare centers and early learning providers to implement the kit in real-world settings and begin the formal research phase.
REFLECTION
Designing across disciplines
This project required deep engagement with early childhood education, curriculum design, developmental psychology, and game mechanics. I learned to translate complex pedagogical concepts into an intuitive system for both children and non-expert facilitators.
Working within constraints
Unable to test with children due to IRB requirements, I had to ground every decision in research literature and stakeholder expertise. This limitation pushed me toward more rigorous, evidence-based design that was stronger for iteration once testing became possible.
Narrative as infrastructure
This experience reinforced the value of narrative as a structural tool, not just decoration. The quest-based framework wasn't just about making learning "fun"—it was the architecture that made the entire system navigable, consistent, and scalable, solving multiple problems at once.